Solving Equations

Maintain equality while applying inverse operations to solve linear equations accurately.

Curriculum rangeYears 7–10

Whatever you do to one side of the equation, you must do to the other.

Coefficient of x

Solution (x)

Constant

3x + 5 = 17

Step 1 — subtract 5 from both sides:

3x = 12

Step 2 — divide both sides by 3:

$x = 12 \div 3 = 4$